Respecting My Kids: Feelings
"Parents… fear that by giving a name to the feeling, they’ll make it worse. Just the opposite is true. The child who hears the words for what he [or she] is experiencing is deeply comforted. Someone has acknowledged his [or her] inner experience.” Adele Faber & Elaine Mazlish, How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk
Read MoreSelf-Harm: It Makes Sense
"For a burn or a cut might be shown, might be nursed, might scar or heal... would anyway be there, on the surface of her body, rather than corroding it from within." Sarah Waters, The Night Watch
“My head was full of wild ambitious urges to hurt myself... I wanted my interior pain out in my body... I wanted this vague pain to be specific. That’s how I explain it.” Charles Baxter, The Feast of Love
Jenna’s Story
"Charlie, don’t you get it?…[you’re] sweet and everything, but it’s like you’re not even there sometimes. It’s great that you can listen and be a shoulder to someone, but…You can’t just sit there and put everybody’s lives ahead of yours and think that counts as love…I want to know where you are, what you need, and what you want to do." Stephen Chbosky, the perks of being a wallflower
Read MoreCommunication: Putting Down the Armor
"To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one... Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe... It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable..." C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves
Read MoreI Don’t Like Mommy
“I don’t like Mommy sometimes and it’s okay to feel that way.”
As I exited her room after asking her to clean up her toys, I overheard my older daughter mumble these words. And I was so happy to hear them.
I believe that one of the greatest gifts we can give our kids is the freedom not to like us all the time.
About Lynn
I am a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor with a Master of Science in Pastoral Counseling from Loyola University in Maryland. I have been in private practice for over twenty years and have experience working with adults and adolescents, addressing a variety of issues: anxiety, depression, relationship problems, past or current trauma, eating disorders, self-mutilation, bereavement, parenting concerns, boundaries, and self-care.